Using opener to group together information at the top of a division (especially in letters); the usual contents of opener

Certain kinds of texts—typically
letters, diaries, and certain kinds of periodical or journalistic
writing—characteristically have a predictable set of opening
and closing information. This information typically includes a date, a
location, an address, an argument, an epigraph, a recipient’s name
and/or salutation, a byline, and a concluding salutation and/or
signature. All of these elements are optional, and the order is
variable. The TEI provides two wrapper elements with which to group
these pieces of information. When they appear at the top of a piece of
text (typically a div or text), the wrapper is the
opener element. When they appear at the end, the wrapper is
the closer element. The wrapper is not required, but it may
be convenient for analytical purposes to know that these elements are
grouped together predictably. We recommend using the opener
and closer elements.

The elements that most typically appear inside opener and closer are:

argument: used for an argument (a short section, possibly a
single paragraph, summarizing the contents of the division).

epigraph: used for a brief quotation (usually from another text)

dateline: used for the date and/or place of writing; includes
placeName and date elements

byline (or respLine if you are using the WWP
extensions): used for information identifying the writer or the person
responsible for the text

salute: used for phrases like To the Reader or Dear Sir
or To my most noble Lord, phrases addressing the reader.

signed: used for the the name of the sender as it appears in
the signature of a letter

Note that some of this information may also appear in a heading,
and it may sometimes be difficult to decide whether a given phrase
(such as To the Reader) should be encoded with head or with
opener and salute. As a guideline, the first textual
element within a div should be assumed to be a head
unless there is a strong reason for treating it otherwise. A good
example of such a reason might be a collection of letters, where each
separate div type="letter" might begin with a dateline or
with the salute, Dear …, neither of which should be encoded as a
heading.